After finishing her photography class at the San Diego Museum of Art Saturday morning, Nellie King of La Jolla eyed the vast, and mostly empty, expanse of Plaza de Panama at the heart of Balboa Park.

“It does look a little barren. If they had put in some of those paving stones, or something else with color, and some landscaping then it might feel different,” King mused.

It was the first weekend that the public could get the full effect of the 1½-acre plaza’s transformation from parking pen to civic blank slate. City crews closed the plaza to parking on June 10 and applied a cream-colored resurfacing material throughout. Planners have said they are watching public foot traffic patterns before adding city-purchased umbrellas, tables, chairs, benches and tree planter boxes. At the moment, a historic water fountain is the plaza’s only feature.

Though it meant that she could not park right in front of the museum as she might have been able to a few weeks ago, King said she did not have a problem with the loss of 60 parking spaces in the center of Balboa Park.

“You couldn’t usually find a space anyway. I don’t think losing the parking was a huge sacrifice,” King said.

At midday on Saturday, a steady — if light — stream of families, joggers, amateur photographers and tourists on rented bikes traversed across Plaza de Panama. Few lingered, instead cutting through at a leisurely pace and maybe stopping to pose for a snapshot in front of the fountain.

Plaza de Panama is Open for Walking

With two young kids in tow, Wes Fuller and Scott Bowerman from Phoenix enjoyed the coastal breeze sweeping through the park — a setting much cooler than the 118 degrees that was keeping friends back home indoors.

Bowerman said he didn’t see how there could be much debate about dedicating the space to pedestrians.

“There is no reason to have cars in this kind of space, as long as you can find parking somewhere within walking distance,” Bowerman said.

Brett Canedy of Rancho Santa Margarita agreed. A San Diego State graduate and transportation analyst with the City of Mission Viejo, he said that the public understands that Balboa Park is about strolling, not driving.

“Balboa Park is a location where it’s desired to be pedestrian friendly. That’s what this space has always been for,” Canedy said.